Category: Personal Finance

Today’s thrifty living tip is to take an inventory of purchased gifts. This is the time of the year I take advantage of clearance sales by purchasing gifts now to give throughout the year. I like to have a stockpile of gifts for teachers, last minute gifts, kid birthday parties, or gifts you know a certain person would love. You aren’t saving money if you forget you have Aunt Sally’s gift sitting in the closet so go out to buy her another one. What if no one else on your list likes poodles? Then you’re either stuck with it or donate it to charity.

I like to keep a list either on my smartphone or computer with all the gifts I have purchased. I know what I have in my gift closet, and I know who is getting what. I do make changes if I find something else during the year, but I make sure to change it on my list. This keeps me organized and on budget. I also have a special closet where I store all the gifts. Lately I have started storing them in a chest, and I keep an extra list taped to the inside lid. I have my list in two spots. Do you have a system to keep you organized for extra gifts? I have also created a gift list that is printable for anyone to use. I would appreciate a link back to my blog if you decide to post it on your blog or website. Just save the picture and then you can print. Enjoy the free printable gift list.

The following post was written by Melissa C. who writes for the Blog Content Guild.

Throwing a Child’s Birthday Party on a Budget

Throwing a birthday party for your child doesn’t mean you need to break the bank. There are lots of fun tips and tricks you can use that allow you to save money and will still allow for a memorable time!

First of all, if your child is very young, you don’t need to go out and buy a fancy cake from a bakery. These can be very expensive and, if your child is too young to even remember it, it is a waste of money. Many children love the Funfetti cake mix from Pillsbury that you can find at most grocery stores. You can make a fun cake yourself that will save a lot of money.

Instead of a cake, consider having cupcakes. You can make these yourself easily, or buy them from the bakery for usually cheaper than a cake. This takes the hassle out of having to cut a cake, and if your child is young they may enjoy playing with the cupcake far more than they would have enjoyed having a cake.

If you’re having a theme party, like a Mario party, save by buying minimal amounts of mario birthday party supplies. Instead, make some Mario-themed party-ware on your own. You can bake Mario-shaped cookies or a Mario cake.

Before heading to the store, survey what you already have with an eye for repurposing. If you have some leftover curling ribbon from Christmas, you could use it to tie around balloons. Similarly, some wire ribbon could help you decorate chairs and make the interior of your house colorful and welcoming.
Head to your local dollar store, especially goodie bag items. You can often find lots of stickers and small toys that you can put in small bags and tie with ribbons. It will look impressive to the children but won’t cost you an arm and a leg to assemble.

With some creative thinking and a little bit of planning, you can throw a great birthday party for your child without breaking the bank. Sometimes it could be easy to get caught up into the mentality nowadays of trying to have a birthday party better than any of the other children, but that’s not what is important. The important thing is to give your child a great, memorable time without stressing yourself out, and hopefully these tips will help you keep things in perspective and create a great celebration.

First I want to mention I only have a Sam’s club near me so my experience is limited. I have been a member for a couple of years. Lately I haven’t noticed much in the way of savings. I’m finding better deals by just watching the other store sale ads. For instance, Sam’s has a 30 roll package of Scott’s toilet paper for over $22. I can buy 3 packs with the 12 rolls for $6-7 on sale and end up with more toilet paper for the same price. I’m not saying there aren’t good deals to be found at these clubs, but you should just ask yourself a few things before buying.

Can I get this cheaper on sale somewhere else?
Do I really need such a big size of this item?
Will we just eat it all quickly since it’s in the house?
Will it go to waste before we can use it?
Do I have enough room to store these bigger packages?

I am guilty of some of the above. I like buying my groceries and health/beauty items in bulk, but I have noticed some of the snacks don’t last as long as they should. Or I’ve had some items go to waste before we could use it all. I mostly try to stick to dry goods and frozen foods for this reason. I live in a bigger home, well big for 3 people, but I do have plenty of space to store items. I hope these questions can help you stop and think before buying something you don’t need or can’t use.

There are other savings such as the pharmacy, travel discounts, office supplies, tires, appliances, and such. I split my membership with my mom. I have a card and she has one so it does save money by only paying $20 yearly. I asked and it’s acceptable at Sam’s. I do save money on gas but I will be doing some more number crunching come renewal time next year.

Are warehouse clubs big money savers or money drains? I would love to read your thoughts.

On today’s shopping trip, I went to several stores to pick up all the deals for this week. I first went to Rite-Aid and bought the Garnier Shine and had a $1 off coupon. So total was $3.25 and I am getting back $3.99 with rebate.

Then I went to Walgreens and bought the Airwick Flameless Candle and Glade Scent Candle. I paid $6.46 with tax and I’m getting back $4 in rebates so total is $2.46 for both items. That was 99 cents each. I also bought 3 Glade refill candles for $2.45 after rebate and coupon. They had 2 of them on clearance for $1 and I got one free with that coupon. I like to give the Trio candles as presents to the lady that delivers my mail and such.

I went to CVS and got the following:
2 Trident gum
2 Colgate Total toothpaste
4 Herbal Essence Shampoos (they have one that I can’t get anywhere else)
2 Bic Soleil Razors
1 Schick Intuition Razor (have rain check from last sale)

I used $15.74 in coupons and 9.79 in ECB’s so grand total was $6.42! I spent $16.13 total on everything and I’m getting $7.99 back in rebates for a grand grand total of $8.14 for all of it! The razors are going to be part of those Christmas gift bags. I also had to do some Wal-Mart shopping and bought 5 Skintimate Shaving creams that were $1.47 each and after $1 coupons I got them for $2.54 with tax. Those will also go in the gift bags. I missed that sale when they were $1.74 each and I think that was Walgreens. I don’t know how I missed it, but this is still good. My nieces love the smaller ones to use when they sleep at a friend’s house. I had another wonderful shopping trip and saved so much.